Benedict XVI's Apostolic Journey to Bavaria

General Overview and Links
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The Vatican Website Page on the Journey now has English, German and Italian versions of addresses other than September 14.

Video archives are available online from German and French television.  I did not find video archives from English language television.  Vatican Radio has archives of radio broadcasts and written texts in English. 

Catholic Press Photos has daily news photos, which already include one photo from the trip.  There is a Vatican webpage about the trip.  There are German websites about the trip, including this website in German with many photos (their "live ticker" of the visit is an interesting idea), and this one with an English version, with much information about the Pope's life in Germany and also photos.  There are more photos on Kath.net (a German Catholic news website - click on any of the readily recognizable articles about Pope Benedict XVI to access the article and photos that go with it).  Hat tip to M.J. and Lahire of Le Salon Beige for the last 2 sites.  Gerald Augustinus at The Cafeteria Is Closed is providing German to English translations of some of the German news coverage as well as the Pope's homilies and other messages.

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September 9, 2006: Arrival in München
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Catholic News Agency has news stories about the Holy Father's arrival and about his address and prayer at the center of München. 

In his address from the center of München, the Holy Father referred to his decision to leave the academic world to become a "beast of burden" in the episcopacy, referring to the legend of St. Corbinian's bear and to St. Augustine's commentary on Psalm 72/73:22-23 ("I was stupid and could not understand; I was like a brute beast in your presence. Yet I am always with you; you take hold of my right hand.")  A picture of a bear is one of the images on Pope Benedict's papal shield.

Here is an excerpt from Gerald Augustinus' translation:

"Against the backdrop of the thoughts of the Bishop of Hippo, the bear encourages me time and again to perform my service with joy and confidence - 30 years ago as well as now in my new task, to give my Yes to God day after day: A draught animal I have become for You, but because of that I am always with You."

Vatican Radio has translations of the arrival ceremony address, and of the address and prayer before the Mariensäule. 

Zenit also has translations of the address in München and his prayer at the end of that address at the Mariensäule, as well as an article about ecumenical discussions that took place among Benedict XVI and Germany's top leaders upon his arrival.

Asia News also has an article about the first day of the trip. 

Gerald Augustinus at The Cafeteria Is Closed has posted his English translation of the Pope's Address in München at The Cafeteria Is Closed, along with a translation of portions of an article in Der Spiegel.  Der Spiegel also has a slide show of photos from the day.

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September 10, 2006: Sunday Mass,
Angelus and Vespers
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The Holy Father's homily at the first Mass he celebrated during this trip spoke of the importance of evangelism, and cautioned that God must be at the center of Catholic social projects.  Before the Angelus, he remarked upon the German people's devotion to Mary.  At vespers, he spoke of baptism as the beginning of a life walking with Jesus, along the right path, speaking on the reading from Rev. 7.

Here is an excerpt from the homily from Mass from Asia News:

"The peoples of Africa and Asia admire our technical services and our science, but at the same time, they become afraid when faced with the kind of reasoning that totally excludes God from the vision of mankind, which maintains that this is the most sublime form of reason, to be imposed even on their cultures. For them, the real threat does not come from the Christian faith; rather it comes from scorn of God and from cynicism that considers contempt for what is sacred to be a right and freedom, that elevates usefulness to the supreme moral criterion for future successes in research. Dear friends, such cynicism is not the type of tolerance and cultural openness that peoples expect and that we all desire! The tolerance we urgently need includes fear of God – respect of that which others consider sacred."

Here is an excerpt from the Angelus message from Catholic News Agency:

“Throughout her earthly life, (Mary) was the Woman who listened, the Virgin whose heart was open towards God and towards others. The faithful have understood this since the earliest centuries of Christianity, and therefore in all their needs and trials they have confidently turned to her, imploring her help and her intercession with God.”

Here is an excerpt from the Vespers homily from Gerald Augustinus' translation (referencing Rev. 7:17: "For the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of life-giving water"):

"The source, the wellspring itself is Jesus, in whom God gives himself to us. He does this first and foremost in Holy Communion, in which we can drink directly at the source of life: He comes to us and unites with every one of us. We can see it: Through the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Communion, a communion is formed above all borders and languages and we can see it right here - Bishops of all parts of the world and languages are here with us - through Communion, the worldwide Church forms Herself, in whom God lives with and talks to us."

Vatican Radio has translations of the homily at Mass, the address before the Angelus, and the homily at Vespers. 

Zenit has posted a translation of the homily at Mass and an adaptation of the Vatican translation of his words before the Angelus.

Gerald Augustinus (of "The Cafeteria Is Closed") has posted full translations of the Pope's homily at Mass and the Pope's vespers homily. 

Asia News has posted an article about the Pope's words at Mass and at the praying of the Angelus today.

Catholic News Agency has articles about today's Mass, his address before the Angelus, and the evening prayer service that concluded the day.   

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September 11, 2006: Mass and Vespers for
Seminarians and Religious in Altötting
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At Mass at the Marian Shrine of Altötting, the Holy Father spoke of Mary as an example of prayer at the wedding at Cana.  Here is an excerpt from the homily on prayer from Asia News:

“Mary does not really ask something of Jesus: she simply says to him: ‘They have no wine’ (Jn 2:3)... She doesn’t tell Jesus what to do. She doesn’t ask for anything in particular, and she certainly doesn’t ask him to perform a miracle to make wine. She simply hands the matter over to Jesus and leaves him to decide what to do."

The Vespers service was at Altötting's Basilica of St. Anne, attended by religious and seminarians.  In an address for that Vespers service, he spoke about vocations, prayer, praying the Hours, Scripture, and parts of the world that particularly need more vocations.  Here is an excerpt from the Vespers homily from Zenit:

Today it is as then, when the Lord was moved with pity for the crowds which seemed like sheep without a shepherd -- people who probably knew how to do many things, but found it hard to make sense of their lives.

Lord, look upon our troubled times, which need preachers of the Gospel, witnesses to you, persons who can point the way toward life in abundance! Look upon our world and feel pity once more! Look upon our world and send us laborers!

Vatican Radio has a translation of the homily at Mass and the address from Vespers.

Zenit has an adapted version of the Vatican translation of the homily at Mass and an adaptation of the Holy See's translation of the homily from Vespers. .  Also, Zenit reports that he then gave his cardinal's ring (which his brother had kept for him) to the Blessed Virgin at the Black Virgin of Altötting.

Asia News has an article about the Holy Father's homily on prayer at the Marian Shrine of Altötting.

Catholic News Agency also has articles about Mass, the homily at Vespers, the Pope's visit to the town where he was born (Marktl am Inn), and his ties to Altötting. 

And from Pause for Prayer, a delightful personal touch from Vatican Radio's English commentator Sr. Janet, from her blog entry for today:

"As the new day dawns, I'm just about to retrace the same path of yesterday, ready for another English commentary for another Papal Mass from Germany. Yesterday's was sheer delight. The music was wonderful, the weather perfect, the Pope looking as though he was enjoying every minute of the celebration. I did too, once the technician had tinkered with a connection to my headphones and I was no longer receiving the German through one ear, an Italian commentator through the other whilst I tried to speak in English!"

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September 12, 2006: Mass, Address
at the University in Regensburg,
and Ecumenical Vespers
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At Mass in Regensburg today, the Pope introduced his homily with the theme for the trip, "Those who believe are never alone."  He spoke of what is necessary to be believed in the present age, concentrating on the Apostle's Creed, describing it as "anchored in the event of baptism."  From that understanding of the "anchoring" of the Creed, this follows (Vatican Radio translation):

"Once we realize this, two things become clear. First, faith is simple. We believe in God - in God, who is the Beginning and End of human life. We believe in a God who enters into a relationship with us human beings, who is our origin and future. Consequently, faith is, always and inseparably, hope: the certainty that we have a future and will not end up as nothing. And faith is love, since God's love is contagious."

During the day, the Pope met with academics at the University of Regensburg.  There, he gave a lecture for which Vatican Radio says he plans to later provide the final version with footnotes.  The primary topic is the interaction of theology and reason and the importance of theology in the context of today's scientific reason.  In the course of the lecture, he dealt directly with his view of the history of Islam, and with the history of Christianity from medieval times.  Here is an excerpt from the Vatican Radio translation of the provisional transcript of that lecture:

"While we rejoice in the new possibilities open to humanity, we also see the dangers arising from these possibilities and we must ask ourselves how we can overcome them. We will succeed in doing so only if reason and faith come together in a new way, if we overcome the self-imposed limitation of reason to the empirically verifiable, and if we once more disclose its vast horizons. In this sense theology rightly belongs in the university and within the wide-ranging dialogue of sciences, not merely as a historical discipline and one of the human sciences, but precisely as theology, as inquiry into the rationality of faith."

In the evening, there was an ecumenical Vespers service attended by Catholics and by Orthodox and Protestant Christians.  The Pope's address at Vespers drew primarily from readings from the first chapter of St. John's Gospel and from the first Epistle of St. John.  Here is an excerpt from the Vatican Radio translation:

"We know who God is through Jesus Christ, the only one who is God. It is through him that we come into contact with God. In this time of interreligious encounters we are easily tempted to attenuate somewhat this central confession or indeed even to hide it. But by doing this we do not do a service to encounter or dialogue. We only make God less accessible to others and to ourselves. It is important that we bring to the conversation not fragments, but the whole image of God. To be able to do so, our personal communion with Christ and our love of him must grow and deepen. In this common confession, and in this common task, there is no division between us. And we pray that this shared foundation will grow ever stronger."

Vatican Radio has a translation of the homily at Mass in Regensburg, a provisional translation of the lecture (the Holy Father plans to later provide a final version of this lecture with footnotes), and a translation of the Pope's address at Vespers.

Zenit has adapted versions of the Vatican translations of the homily at Mass, the lecture, and the address at Vespers.

Gerald at The Cafeteria Is Closed has his own translation of the homily made from a transcript of the homily as actually delivered, found on Kath.net, which he says differs from the prepared draft available elsewhere.

Asia News has articles about homily at Mass in Regensburg.

Catholic News Agency has articles about the homily at Mass, the lecture, and the address at the ecumenical Vespers service.

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September 13, 2006: Blessing of the Organ
and Family Day
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Today, the Pope blessed a new organ at Alte Kapelle in Regensburg and then spent a quiet, restful day visiting his brother and the house he still owns there.  During the day, he visited the graves of his parents and sister, which was kept private from the public but was broadcast on German TV.

In his address at the Basilica at Alte Kapelle (the "old chapel"), he spoke about liturgy and sacred music.  He also analogized an organist's bringing dissonance into harmony with the role of each person in bringing harmony within the Church through a variety of gifts and charisms.  Here are his comments on Vatican II and church music:

"In the Constitution on Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council (Sacrosanctum Concilium), it is emphasized that the “combination of sacred music and words … forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy” (No. 112). This means that music and song are more than an embellishment of worship; they are themselves part of the liturgical action. Solemn sacred music, with choir, organ, orchestra and the singing of the people, is not an addition of sorts that frames the liturgy and makes it more pleasing, but an important means of active participation in worship. The organ has always been considered, and rightly so, the king of musical instruments, because it takes up all the sounds of creation and gives resonance to the fullness of human sentiments. By transcending the merely human sphere, as all music of quality does, it evokes the divine. The organ’s great range of timbre, from piano through to a thundering fortissimo, makes it an instrument superior to all others. It is capable of echoing and expressing all the experiences of human life. The manifold possibilities of the organ in some way remind us of the immensity and the magnificence of God."

Vatican Radio has a translation of the Pope's address from the blessing of the organ.

Zenit has an adaptation of the Vatican translation from the blessing.

Catholic News Agency has an article about the blessing service, and also has an article about the Pope's brother's clues to their plans for a quiet day together.

AFP has an article and photo about the Pope's and his brother's visit to their parents' and sister's graves, and AP also has an article and photo (both have the same pool photo).

For photos from the trip, see these pages: Papa Ratzinger Forum, Der Papst in Bayern (click on links for "zur bildergalerie" (to the photo gallery) and you will find slide shows), Wer glaubt ist nie alein, and the Yahoo! News Papacy and the Vatican Slideshow.

To watch the video from German television of the Pope's visit to his family's grave site today, click here, then scroll down to the "real video" logo where it says "besuch des familiengrabs," and click on that.  If you have real player, it should open and play.

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September 14, 2006: Address to Bavarian
Clergy and Farewell Address
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On this last day of the Pope's trip to Germany, he met with Bavarian priests and permanent deacons at the Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Corbinian in Freising.  There, he set aside his prepared sermon, telling them that they could read it later, and spoke spontaneously.

In his address there this morning, he spoke of their role as spreading the word of Christ, encouraging them to keep Christ at the center of ministry.  After that, his final address of the trip was a farewell message at the airport before a 12:45 p.m. departure for Rome.

Vatican Radio has the text of the Pope's farewell address at the airport.

Zenit has an adaptation of the Vatican's translation of the prepared address to the clergy (the one he said they could read later, rather than the message he actually delivered), and of the farewell address, as well as an interview with Father Federico Lombardi of the Vatican, reflecting upon the highlights of the trip.

Asia News has an article about the Pope's meeting with clergy and farewell. 

Catholic News Agency also has an article about that meeting and an article about his farewell address.

Associated Press has an article about the meeting and the farewell from the airport.  AFP has an article more specifically about his farewell address at the airport.